


My Battlemaster

by Fluidfyre



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, First Crush, Humor, Krogan, Sci-Fi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-01
Updated: 2011-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-20 22:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/217682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluidfyre/pseuds/Fluidfyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Who else would a perfect krogan going through puberty develop a crush on, other than his ass-kicking, death-defying Battlemaster? Unfortunately, inexperienced krogan aren't the subtlest creatures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N: A Mass Effect break while I plot my next DA2 story. Been working on this one for a few months actually, hehe. Written in response to the following request on the ME kmeme:**
> 
>  _Grunt has developed a teenage crush on his Battlemaster and she just isn't getting the non-too-subtle hints he's been dropping her. He decides to try more human methods to get her attention, resulting in totally awkward not so krogan behavior._   
> _Shepard keeps unknowingly doing things that turn him on or make him fantasize about her. It's driving him nuts._   
> _Grunt does the strutting, muscle flexing, so-totally-male thing to attract Shepard. She isn't taking the bait._
> 
> * * *

Her hands moving with deadly trained precision, Shepard assembled the shotgun in five seconds flat - efficiency that even a perfect krogan could appreciate. The large gun in one piece, she ran her hand down the barrel, biting the tip of her tongue as she spun it and placed it grip toward him on the table.

"So what do you think," she said with an arch of her brow.

Eyes turning down, Grunt plucked the gun up, testing its weight and clicking the training rounds on. Turning towards the target, he shot until the sink hissed and he ejected it onto the floor with a satisfied sound.

"More rounds in less time," he assessed, laying it on the table. He was distracted as Shepard's fingers toyed over the barrel again. "A better stabilizer too."

"Mhm," Shepard replied, leaning an elbow onto the table. She motioned to the gun, "It's yours, if you want it."

His Battlemaster favoured a Viper rifle - a more delicate gun that suited the unassuming precision with which she executed all of her kills.

"Many will die by it in your name, Shepard," Grunt said as appraised the gun again, "I will be there to kill for your honour. And if you wish it back, you have but ask."

"Oh come on, Grunt," Shepard cavalierly said, standing up from the crate, "I'd never think of playing with another man's gun." Punching something in on her omni-tool, she turned towards the elevator. "Be ready for the mission at 1800."

Grunt watched her go, feeling a certain itch under his armour. Something that hissed in his blood. He cracked his shoulders back to try and ease the tension, but it remained. It was unsettling.

* * *

"Hey," Jack leaned in the open doorway as Grunt worked the tool through his shotgun. It had gotten particularly bloody in the raid on the Blue Sun's base.

"Hmph. Jack," he replied scarce looking up from his work. He did not need to look. He could tell each of the crew by smell.

"Figured if anyone, you'd be the first to line up around the ring," Jack casually said, arms crossed as she looked out the windows into the cargo hold. "Shepard's set to spar against that turian of hers."

"A pet turian," Grunt said, "I like that."

"He might as well be," Jack sneered, "The way he follows her."

"She is worthy of being followed."

"Yeah, whatever," Jack said, sighing as she pushed off the door. "I just want to watch them kick the shit out of each other. Better than their usually pussy-footing."

Grunt glanced again, and Jack was gone. Abandoning his work, he took the elevator into the cargo hold, feet clomping heavily as he advanced out to where the bout was already underway. He lingered behind the Cerberus crewmembers, listening to their hushed chatter as Shepard and Garrus circled. They traded taunts under their breath, voices beyond his recognition.

When Garrus launched at the Commander, she moved with stealthy precision, sidestepping to clip her hand at a point in his side. He knew the spot - a flash of imagery was there in his mind from the tank. The turian cursed and recovered without hesitation, rolling to catch the back of Shepard's knee before flipping her across the ring.

Bare foot skidding on the mat, Shepard was up again to dodge his attack, planting a hand to snap a succession of kicks that Garrus easily blocked. She smiled in a predatory way, the sentiment reflected equally on the turian's maw. The exchange continued, almost seeming choreographed as they blocked and parried, limbs snapping, dexterity matching reach with ease.

Grunt rumbled quietly, crossing his arms over as he watched, trying to decide who was toying with who - or if there was purpose to their delay. They were like varren chasing a bone.

"Come on, Vakarian," Jacob said from where he stood, "You gonna let a woman do that to you?"

Shepard caught Garrus by the waist, and throwing her weight pinned him to the ground. The turian loudly cursed as she wrenched one of his leg spurs and tightly grasped his fringe. She released with equal speed, springing up to offer him a hand.

"You're fucking cheap, Shepard," Garrus coughed, hand on the back of his neck as he shook out his limbs. "I'm not wearing my covers next time."

"Oooo, the gloves come off," Shepard said with a smirk, crossing her arms. She nodded at his taloned hands, "Literally."

"Yeah. Whatever," Garrus snagged some of the water Tali had, stalking away through the cabin. "My disadvantage I was trained to kill you. Sorry for the restraint."

"Such a baby," Shepard laughed, sweat glistening on her brow. She stretched her limbs as Joker reached to snag credit chits from some of the crew. "Seriously? You bet against me?" She sounded hurt.

"Naw no no," Joker said, waving a hand. "They just thought you'd beat him faster. Sucks to be them."

"Who's flying the ship?" Shepard said, wiping down with a towel.

"EDI, duh," Joker tucked the chits into a pocket on his hip. Rolling his eyes, he limped towards the elevator. "Fine, fine. Real downer."

A few more words with her crew, and Shepard was soon free, though she stopped her movements as she saw Grunt still standing there.

"You are small and squishy, but stronger than most any I have seen. Not like the images from the tank," Grunt rumbled, arms still crossed as he watched her. "Exploitive and decisive, your foes seem to crumple under you, no matter their size."

"Er, thanks Grunt," Shepard said with a politic grin. She punched something in on her omni-tool before walking closer. "Really though, my Alliance training has heavily prepared me for any sort of combat against turians."

"Your training is superior."

Shepard grinned smugly as she stripped the ripped tape on her hands, "Yeah, that might be the case. But we won't tell him that."

"There were many images in the tank of ways to kill turians - of during the rebellions," Grunt said, watching her flex her hands. "Though they won, they were not met without a fight.

Shepard hesitated, "Have you actually tried any hand-to-hand Grunt? I mean, I guess not. I was there the day you were born, huh."  
Grunt scoffed and ruminated, "I have seen enough. I know the methods to kill my foes, and I will taste their blood."

Grinning, Shepard snagged her tape and started wrapping her hands again, "Sounds like a lot of talk, big boy. How about we go?"

Grunt bristled, "I have no true desire to injure you, Shepard."

"Oh! Big man thinks he's going to get his ass kicked - won't even try fighting the pitiful human woman."

"I have seen you on the battlefield," Grunt impressed, "You are no weakling."

Shepard smirked and sat on a crate to wrap her ankles, "Shouldn't krogan be eager to test their prowess against anyone? Especially their Battlemaster?" She smoothed the tape, testing the flexibility, "How do you know you aren't being led around by someone your lesser?"

Grunt looked aside, shifting his weight before he said, "I am... unfamiliar with the rules of such spars. To fight without the intent to kill."

"Then this is an even better lesson," Shepard said with a grin. "Restraint is as much a tool as brute strength."

Huffing slightly, Grunt crossed his arms, "I am not so certain. Why hesitate when you can simply be rid of your target?"

"You don't always want them dead," Shepard said, double-checking her tape job. She was flexing as Grunt seemed to square off, and laughed, "Take off your armour."

Grunt's arms dropped as he shifted uncomfortably, narrowing his eyes at her to gauge her intent.

"What," Shepard smirked, "You don't think I get to hop about flimsy and unprotected while you charge at me with your shields and armour, do you? Or you got something to hide under there?"

Cracking the seal around his neck, Grunt pried away the armour over his hump with a soft growl, "It is as much a part of me as my gun."

"And we aren't using guns." Shepard flashed a coy smile, "Come on, boy."

Eyeing his commander, Grunt stripped the rest of his armour away with methodical care. A tension rose between his shoulders, down to very simple coverings that concealed none of his alien physiology. Squatting and moving, he stretched and cracked as he watched her. Shepard had the same smirk as he said, "I look forward to this challenge, Battlemaster."

Poised on the balls of her feet, Shepard absently flexed her hand as she watched Grunt move. The krogan was heavy footed, and it was scarce a moment before he grumbled and charged at her. Fluid as the air, Shepard sidestepped him and caught one of his shoulder plates, using his momentum to twirl and plant him face first on the ground. Weight grinding on her knee, she leant on a soft spot on his side as Grunt choked on a sound.

"See?" Shepard whispered by his cheek, grinning devilishly, "I barely had to do anything at all."

Rending his arm, Grunt pulled away, and Shepard was on her feet again with a simple bounce. They met again as the krogan threw his weight into her, and Shepard took it, spinning to knee him. Grunt growled again, grappling with her at the low blow, and the woman only became more mirthful.

"You think I don't know what I'm doing, Grunt?" Shepard said as she caught his arm, flowing to bend it taut, nearly immobilizing him. "A quad just makes 'em easier to hit."

"You're toying with me," he growled, shaking his arm as she released it.

"I might be," Shepard licked her lips, grinning, "A little."

"Then what it the point?"

"Obviously not toying with you enough," she said, expression losing its animation as she poised again.

This time Grunt maintained a greater amount of calm, looking over the details of her form. Each honed muscle was tensed, ready to move in reaction to his brashness. There was a flush on her skin and her eyes were slightly dilated - prepared to trap her prey. He hunkered down, shifting his posture to ready for attack, setting his weight so he might more easily move.

Grunt's nostrils flared as he stalked sideways, keeping equidistance between them on the mat. The scent of her exertion was there, her body and subtle stings of metallic's - her implants. A glisten on her forehead. He flexed his hand again. He would not be her prey.

"Better," she whispered, offering a predatory grin, "Maybe you are learning."

He offered a grunt, baring his own teeth in reply.

Shepard's eyes darted a moment before she moved, a snap-kick catching the unguarded back of his knee. Grunt swayed, and she used it to box his ear. He growled in reply. That she knew krogan well enough for that. His temper and blood flared, and he used the drive to catch her limb. His three fingers coiled on her calf, pinching the muscle. It brought her pain - he could see it in her eyes. Another thud inside set his blood. He felt her weight in his grasp a moment before her other leg snapped across his face, and he dropped her.

Staggering back with a moment's disorientation, Grunt rumbled satisfyingly, looking at Shepard through slitted eyes as she rolled back up to her feet.

"Feline," Grunt murmured, lowering his centre of gravity again.

They exchanged a few more blows, Shepard deflecting his punches as much as his tough scales deadened her snaps. The Commander began to pant with the exertion, and it spurred Grunt on - he finally caught her, and the pair fell to the ground, Shepard's face on the mat and her breasts squished beneath them.

"Fuck me!" she swore, testing the grip he had on her.

"I don't recognize this word," Grunt chuckled at the back of her head.

Shepard laughed oddly, shaking her head as she panted, "It's nothing."

The scent was stronger. There on her weak skin. It was not fear. There was no fear in his battlemaster. Just fire. Grunt nipped at the back of her neck, "Less than an inch, Shepard."

Wriggling with surprising flexibility, Shepard twisted and hit home in the quad this time, choking Grunt with the bright flash of pain, "You got lucky." Panting as she limped and regained herself, "Bastards with redundant systems."

The pain took a backseat as he saw her limp - thrilled to see her weakened, and Grunt chuckled, pushing himself up. He tensed, positioning himself low. She would not win so easily.

"I already had a fight today, you know," Shepard said, scarce aware of his posture. She pulled in a deep breath, shaking her leg again as she turned her eyes on him.

Grunt laughed, using the weakness once more, and his charge caught her full bore. His legs burnt as he slammed her back off the mat, pinned against one of the coolant fans. There was a defined crack.

Shepard swore more loudly, her head lolling back as she started to wheeze a laugh, "Nice move. Catching me off-guard. Perfect." When Grunt pressed her to the metal and growled against her neck, she squeaked, "You're learning."

"You are a better teacher than the tank," Grunt grumbled against her, his body dwarfing her. Soft, small, but deadly. There was something else there now, the sweat and her body. It sparked in his gut. "A fine challenge."

Shepard's eyes glazed as she gupped for air, struggling to draw it in, "I think I need to go to med-bay."

Pulling away, Grunt laughed with the thrill of the fight. Shepard crumpled before he could clap arms with her, a rush of air escaping as though deflated. Huffing a bit, his face twitched, "Shepard?"

Paled and prone, Shepard almost shook with a slight laugh, before the pain rippled over her features, and she hushed, "Get Chakwas."


	2. Chapter 2

Grunt barely moved as Jack smacked his hump.

"Idiot," she murmured, crossing her arms as she stood with him outside of med-bay. The mess behind them was empty. "Don't get me wrong, Shepard's made me want to break a few things before, but I know better than to act on it."

Harrumphing, Grunt said, "She appreciated our fight. If we had been properly equipped it would not have ended so quickly." He paused thoughtfully, looking towards the doors. "It felt good."

"So you going to carry her back up to her room?" Jack arched a brow, crossing her arms.

"What?"

Jack sniggered and shook her head as she said, "You're pathetic."

Grunt growled softly as he looked down at her, "Watch your tongue before I rip it from your throat."

Rolling her eyes, Jack mockingly said, "Please. And get your 'battlemaster' all angry?" She smirked and added, "No wait. What did she say to Miranda and I? Save it for the Collectors. So take a number."

Sighing, Grunt looked away from her to the med-bay door and muttered, "Go bite someone else's hide."

Jack snapped her teeth and turned away as Garrus roamed past. He looked as though he were about to bee-line for Grunt, when the krogan walked into the med-bay.

"Excuse me, you shouldn't be in here right now," Dr. Chakwas said as she dropped some instrumentation into the autoclave. "Nevermind you're the one who put her here."

"Naw, it's alright, doc," Shepard said, trying to sit up. She had a wide bandage over her breasts, otherwise bare to the waist. "Fixed me like you always do."

"I'll be surprised if you survive to even fight the Collectors," she murmured, taking a datapad from her desk. "I'm going to bed. Your meds are there."

"Thank you, Dr. Chakwas," Shepard said with a grin, putting a hand high on her side as she sat up all the way. "Remind me not to spar you again without armour, hey Grunt?"

The krogan huffed and grinned widely, "One would think you too weak."

"Do I need to castrate you?"

Grunt laughed and shifted his weight, noticing Garrus looming out one of the windows. Shepard raised a hand to signal her health, and the turian skulked away. Grunt's eyes drifted back to Shepard, drawn to the scars that laced her nimble frame. She was without modesty and lifted one of her arms.

"Looking at my rebuild?" Shepard said, her voice quiet as she ran her hand up from her hip. "I used to have a massive scar here. From Akuze. Used to have a lot of things that meant something."

"I have read of your survival," Grunt said appreciatively. His lower lip flexed as he said, "Too bad it's gone."

"Yeah," she absently said. "Made it so I never forgot them."

"They died in battle. That is how they are remembered. What soldier could ask for more?"

Looking at the crisp, straight scars along her ribs, Shepard's eyes darted up to Grunt, "A lot of things."

"Then they expect too much," he replied, "They live to die. Like any warrior."

Shepard arched her brow, putting her hands on either side of her on the med-bed, "True enough."

"I have not earned the scars as you have, Shepard." Grunt said, nodding a little. He motioned up the side of his hump, "Except here. From our fight against the thresher."

Shepard nodded as she looked up, "I noticed when you took your armour off. And well, when its acid hit you. I don't think you screamed once."

"In rage," he countered, a spark in his eyes. "I hope the Collectors are an even greater challenge."

Fatigue crept into Shepard's features as she nodded, "They will be. They almost killed us on Horizon. Then again, you probably would have liked that."

Grunt chuckled as he made a fist, "I would have crushed that runt they speak of. He is not worth of your time."

"Kaidan?" Shepard laughed a little, having to clutch her side as she shook her head, "That would have been something else to see. Wrex never liked him either."

"Then he is a waste of breath."

Something hitched in Shepard's expression, and she smirked as she looked out of the med-bay, "You can say that again."

Grunt leant closer, sniffing in deep as he said, "What of our battle in the rite? I have trouble thinking you came out unscathed."

Shepard's expression shifted and she looked up at him, almost laughing a bit, "Well no. I got a faceful. I was damned lucky I had that helm. But I'd been shot a few times already. " She turned as best she could, revealing the warped skin down her back, "They always look the same."

Shifting uncomfortably, Grunt touched the length of the scar, nodding appreciatively. There was a quiet rumble in his throat as he said, "It is fitting."

"You like it, I take it?" Shepard smirked.

"The more scars we earn, the better," he replied. The edge of his rage was pushing close. He could feel the heat of the scar tissue, and he leant further over the small woman. "It is warm."

"Yeah," Shepard said, still twisted. She furrowed her brow, an odd expression on her face as she said, "Thresher acid does that. Give it a year or two. Then it'll just be hard and knotted."

"Perfect," Grunt simply said, pulling his hand away a bit late. His eyes stayed along the mangled skin, a heat in his breath.

"Anyway," Shepard said, smacking his arm. It scarce moved him but drew a smirk. "Thanks for checking in. Some of the meds the Doc gave me are starting to kick in. I better make it up to my quarters."

Grunt nodded, moving back a pace as Shepard got up. She snagged her jacket and zipped it up. She swayed a bit as she grabbed the desk. He sneered, "Did you need a hand?"

Shepard scoffed and glanced at him, offering her own smirk, "Please. What kind of battlemaster would I be if I can't hold my own wounded?"

His jagged teeth bared, Grunt chuckled and said before she left, "That's why I like you, Shepard. No weakness."

* * *

Standing under the lights of Omega, Shepard shucked a cigarette and lit it in a fluid motion, taking a deep puff before exhaling into the already putrid air. Grunt paced nearby as they waited, his attention drifting back and forth from the vorcha nearby to his battlemaster.

Shepard was unfazed, dragging deep ash and savouring the sting in her modified lungs. She smirked, the expression kinking the odd-glowing scars on her cheek, and as she spoke smoke escaped, "Having fun wearing a hole in the floor?"

Grunt kinked his wide brow, stopping and palming his fist. He sneered at a salarian that walked by, causing the alien to scurry faster away. "I don't enjoy waiting."

"He'll be here soon enough," Shepard replied, leaning on the ledge and crushing the butt on the rusted metal. "Just have to stand around and look pretty till then."

Huffing slightly, Grunt rested his hand on the hilt of his shotgun, looking at her, "Pointless. As are those things you burn. They were in the tank, but without a name."

"Cigarette," Shepard replied, shrugging. "Not really pointless. Makes me feel good a bit."

"There's always pyjaks," Grunt motioned with a jerk of his head. "Something with substance to make the blood flow."

Checking her omni-tool, Shepard waved a hand and hoisted her viper to follow him to the nearby ledge, "Yeah alright. If I must put you to shame."

"Hardly," Grunt replied, unhitching his assault rifle from his armour.

"Can't say I didn't warn you," Shepard smoothly said, grinning. Lining up the shot, she tracked and shot the first one before him. Eye to the scope, she said, "So, plan on visiting the female camps before we hit the relay?"

"I am the perfect krogan," Grunt replied. He tracked another pyjak as it popped out, and it sailed off to fall down through the levels. "What use would I have with an inadequate female. Another opportunity to breed the weak - to cherish the infirm."

"So you won't go?" Shepard asked. She sucked on her teeth, and the barrel of her viper darted to shoot another pyjak - though Grunt got the second. "But wouldn't your peak perfection have better stock than any others who'd go?"

Grunt made a sound, shifting his hump as they shot another pair of the pests, "What about your request, battlemaster?"

Shepard faltered, missing a shot - much to his amusement - as she almost blushed. Laughing out, she leaned her rifle on her shoulder and turned to watch Grunt. "Well, I don't know about that. Never saw myself as the breeding sort, truth be told." Clearing her throat, she snapped the gun again, a crack shot sending a pyjack flying, "And of course, if I were to breed, I would need someone as high calibre as myself, right? Not just any common rabble."

A rumble ground in Grunt's throat as he flexed his fingers over the trigger of his gun, and nodding, shot another pair of pyjacks himself. Arching a brow, he bared his teeth and said, "Yes. Exactly."

"Yeah," Shepard oddly said, peering at Grunt a moment before stealing a kill from him. Lips in a dubious line, she shouldered her viper and lit a cigarette, when her omni-tool blipped. Dragging down the ash quick, she smacked the krogan's hump, "Come on, kiddo. Time for real work."

"I'm running the auxiliary hack," Tali said, sound muted. "Five more minutes."

"I thought you were the best, Tali," Shepard teasingly replied.

"Another tech wouldn't get you out at all," she snipped. "I could just leave you there, if you'd like."

"Really want to deal with her when she gets out?" Garrus asked, smirking.

"If she'd get out," Tali said, eyes smiling.

"I'm sure Grunt would headbutt his way out eventually," Garrus idly mused. Tali laughed.

Shepard sighed, and grinned despite the close quarters. She flipped the useless console on the small desk in what was all but a closet office. "You gonna be alright?"

"I was bred in a smaller space," Grunt replied.

"Yeah," she said, leaning against the wall, scarce two feet between them. "But you also weren't a man then. All those krogan urges and tendancies. Maybe Tali's right."

Grunt grumbled slightly, finally giving up on his assault on the door. "What is the point of such a trap?"

"I admire it a little," Shepard replied, grinning. "I can't deny, if people were messing with my stuff, I'd want them a little bit more than inconvenienced."

Tali swore outside the door, the sound muffled. Finally she said, "It adapted. Now it's personal. I think I saw a terminal I can scrounge some parts from in the next wing."

"Take your time, cutie," Shepard called out, sitting back on the desk as Grunt paced in his two-step of space. She hoisted a leg up beside her, bracing her foot on the chair. "Good plan. Wear a hole through the floor."

Grunt stopped and turned to her, "It doesn't bother you being pent up like this?"

"No, why would it?" Shepard casually said, looking up into his face. "You know, your have really lovely eyes. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"My wh – my eyes?" Grunt made a sound, shaking his head as he looked at the door again. "Why does it matter?"

"Just never met a krogan with such blue eyes," Shepard smirked, still looking him in the eye. "Met or killed. So it adds up. Think it's because you're young?"

"What are you playing at, Shepard?" Grunt asked, leaning closer to her. The light on the desk shone up over his Jurassic features.

"How often is it just the two of us – and we aren't trying to kill something?" She chuckled, before touching a laceration down his cheek. "That's new, isn't it?"

"From the battle on the Reaper," Grunt said with certain pride. "When we were nearly overwhelmed."

"I remember," Shepard nodded, still looking at it. "Pretty badass. Or will your redundant system have that healed in time?"

"Does it matter?" Nostrils flaring, Grunt cracked a shoulder back and leant over her, "I'll earn better yet by your side." Planting his hand beside her thigh, he pressed her back against the desk and wall with his other hand, a low rumble in his throat. "Or from you, if you'd prefer."

"You know," Shepard cleared her throat, laughing a bit as she blushed. "I just realized I don't know a thing about krogan and their mating habits."

"Neither do I," Grunt replied, his voice low and hushed as he nudged into her neck.

"Have I been sending some sort of signal?" Shepard asked as she tensed in his grasp, only prompting him to pin her back more firmly and bare his teeth against her skin.

"The best kind," Grunt growled. "You are marked from your battles. Your skin never carries the scent of fear. You are a predator. But so am I."

Shepard made a sound of disbelief, almost shaking her head, "So you are. Am I the prey then?"  
"Hardly," Grunt replied, huffing down her neck again as he breathed her in. He suddenly laughed, "Or is that the game? You have no equal – though I may come close."

"Is that so –" Shepard's words clipped off, and she twisted to push him back with a knee as a fraction of light cracked in the doorway. "Tali?"

"See? I told you I could do it," The quarian put a hand on her hip, looking back at Garrus.


	3. Chapter 3

It was the late according to the clocks, but the ship was abuzz – they hit the relay come dawn. The cargo hold had been transformed, and Shepard's team worked on fine-tuning their equipment. There was no guessing what they might face in the galactic core – what might be awaiting them on the other side of Omega 4. They spoke very little, the click and charge coupled with computational sounds as sinks, armour and guns were passed over, each set of hands honed to their task.

Seemingly satisfied, Shepard set her viper aside and stood up. It only took her clearing her throat for all eyes to turn to her and the work to fall silent. "We've only a few hours more. We've done all we can – honestly, we're just obsessing now." Hesitating, she glanced amongst them, "Take these last hours for yourself. Might be the last chance you get. We'll hit a comm. buoy before jumping. Dismissed."

Shepard hauled up her gear and turned back through the hold as Thane and Samara walked towards the elevator, speaking under their breath. The Commander accessed a terminal, eyes on the orange glowing text as the rest filed away. Grunt stopped by the elevator, dismissing Jack as she flashed a fake smile.

"I'll wait," Grunt murmured. "I'd hate to squish any of you. Though maybe that's not the right word."

"0700," Miranda said, crossing her arms as the doors closed on the clutch of humans in the elevator.

Scoffing to himself, Grunt looked back towards the Commander – the turian had waited too. As Garrus walked up to her, it was clear they hadn't realized the krogan was still there. He couldn't hear what was said, but a fire lit beneath his armour when the scarred alien leant over her. Shepard smiled and nodded, putting a hand on Garrus' chest and nodding. The touch drew the turian's head down, and she smirked at him, giving a playful push. Garrus' mandibles flared and he put a hand on the back of his neck, just below his fringe.

Grunt's brow drew in displeasure, and he moved with a defined thump that drew both of their attention. Shepard snapped her rifle to the waiting armour and motioned towards the elevator.

Garrus swayed and strode to join the waiting krogan. He sighed out, resting his hands on the sharp edge of his hips.

"What are you playing at, turian?" Grunt said as the doors closed.

Glancing aside, Garrus cleared his throat and said, "Excuse me?"

"Games like yours have no place on the battlefield," Grunt sneered, baring his teeth as the elevator began to move. "Shepard needs no coddling in the face of death. Nor any comfort from a spindly creature such as you."

Garrus' mandibles twitched a moment, and he almost grinned before coughing and crossing his arms, "I don't think I've ever tried to coddle the Commander. I don't think she'd let me."

"She will see our strength when we are through the Omega 4 relay – when we crush those who took her crew," Grunt narrowed his eyes at the turian, stretching his shoulders back. "Think you've got what it takes?"

Almost laughing again, Garrus cleared his throat as the doors to the mess opened and he strode out, "Maybe you should ask your 'battlemaster' about that one."

Grunt huffed out a breath and made to follow him, but Garrus had already disappeared into the forward battery. The ship was quiet, empty without the crew. Dirty plates and empty rations scattered the table and Rupert's kitchen. The krogan paced and grabbed something from the cupboards, eating the mealy paste as he brewed. He bristled before returning to the elevator.

When he had stood there too long, EDI spoke, "Is there a specific location you wish to go, Urdnot Grunt?"

The heat under his armour popped at the accolade, and Grunt nodded before saying, "Shepard."

The elevator swung to life and silently ascended to the Commander's quarters, and Grunt strode into the small room just outside. He shifted his weight uncomfortably, before stabbing the call button. The doors opened a moment later, and he walked in.

"Hey I – oh. Grunt," Shepard straightened her posture, dressed down to simple fatigues that showed off the lattice of subtle scarring up her neck and cheek. Her eyes glowed in stark contrast to the blues of the room behind her. She chuckled, "Thought you were Garrus."

"If he were any other turian, I'd be insulted," Grunt replied with a sneer, and the comment prompted a laugh from Shepard.

"Ain't that the truth," she said, putting her hands on her hips and nodding towards him. "So what can I do for your, soldier? You should be resting."

"Resting? At a time like this?" Grunt said as he stepped closer, a grin widening his already spacious mouth. "There are other things that burn the blood and call me to action. Could you rest, Shepard?"

A grin tweaked the edge of her lips, and Shepard turned with a cough, "Not exactly no." She crossed her arms and appraised him, "But I've got a few advantages you don't."

Grunt took another step closer, and Shepard stood her ground as he levelled closed to her. He took a deep breath and tensed his hand, about to speak as she put a hand on his chest to stop his advance.

"Grunt… you should go prep for the battle tomorrow," Shepard coolly said. "I need you at your best, who knows what shit's going to hit the fan."

"There's something here," Grunt rumbled, trying to take her hand and twist it to the advantage. She tensed in his grasp, muscles tensing, and he growled appreciatively. "My battlemaster, who drives my fight and boils my blood."

"Your battlemaster and nothing more," Shepard hissed, moving with defined dexterity that her cybernetics only enhanced. The trained twist she gave his arm in reply turned him – though no doubt it was as much his own allowance. He tensed back and they fought for the dominance, a roll of sound in his throat as she sighed, letting him pin her.

"The flush you carry, your scent, Shepard," Grunt purred against her.

The door to her cabin blipped, and EDI cut in, "Garrus Vakarian is requesting entrance to your quarters, Commander."

In the distraction, Shepard pushed Grunt away and exhaled sharply, running her hands through her hair, "Return to the bay. Prep your weaponry and armour. We jump at 0700."

Huffing in mild confusion, Grunt puffed his shoulders back and turned to stalk from the room, passing Garrus as he stomped into the elevator and hit the button to take him down.

Sauntering into Shepard's room, Garrus pointed over his shoulder at the krogan, but she waved it off and he lifted his other hand, "I eh, I brought some wine…best I could afford on a vigilante's salary."

* * *

"Scoped and dropped!" Garrus' mandibles flared wide as he smacked a new heat sink into his rifle, eyes sparkling as he advanced, leading the second fire team in a distraction as Shepard burrowed into the Collector base from another angle. "Into position, we've another wave incoming!"

Dropping behind a pie of emptied pods, Garrus found himself alongside Grunt. The krogan was bloodied and blackened, but smiling wider than the rest. He nodded to the tank-bred, and they both leant out to blanket the air with assault fire, punching the wings of the repurposed insects and spattering their greenish fluids throughout the hive. From another vantage, Tali sent Chikkita to distract a wave of husks that clawed up towards them.

"Like they can smell us," Garrus said under his breath, shooting again, before dropping back. "Cover me."

"Could smell you from a mile away, turian," Grunt flatly replied, his shields flickering as stray bullets peppered it. He was unfazed as it drained, shooting the last of the Collectors into a bloody pulp.

Garrus stood and clapped his hump, "Nice."

Huffing a reply, Grunt kept pace with the turian as he motioned to the rest of the fire team and they advanced through another section of the base. They waited as Tali knelt to hack a door.

"Tell me," Grunt said as he realigned the vectors of his shotgun with quick finesse. "What good are you, Archangel?"

Garrus laughed as he popped a few sinks from the storage clips in his thigh and loaded his gun, "Just Garrus. And have you been looking the other direction all these months?" The assault rifle in his hand charged, as the turian all but purred, "I might just be able to shoot a thing or two."

Tali cursed and punched the metal, prompting the team to look at her before Legion offered a disjointed, insulting hand. The quarian smacked it away, before manipulating the holo-display again.

"So," Grunt said as he continued to toy with the gun. "You and Shepard."

Garrus's mandibles flared as he looked at the krogan, "You're kidding me."

"Expect people not to notice, turian?" Grunt replied, smirking as Tali swore again. She stalked back to snag Legion and they both settled into cracking the display. The sound of gunfire came muted from the other side.

"More like, this isn't the time," Garrus replied, standing to stalk and watch the door. Grunt followed.

"Can't keep your head in the fight?"

"Me?" Garrus smirked, armoured talons clacking on his assault rifle. His voice dropped as they readied and the doors cracked open halfway. "You're the one bringing up the ladies. Jealous, Grunt?"

The sound of gunfire drowned them out as Grunt grimaced and pressed forward through the door, heatsink snapping out with a hiss as he turned on another clutch of Collectors. The shots burst into incendiary flares, and the insectoid creatures writhed in the ensuing fire. He came upon one and cracked its skull with the butt of his shotgun, before cowing over it and pulverizing it with a successive punch.

"Grunt! Hold position!" Garrus shouted from where he was pinned with the rest of the team. When the krogan advanced further, he shook his head and signalled they advance. "Damned juvenile."

"Come on, Garrus," Tali said, a grin in her voice. "You can't tell me you didn't see the way he is around her."

"Sorry, smitten krogan isn't the sort of behaviour I pick up on," Garrus grumbled, crouching alongside her as another wave of fluttering wings filled the air with their buzz and gunfire. "Not my responsibility."

"Maybe not," Tali quipped, before deploying Chikkita and matching Legion's shots one for one to take down a bug.

"You do realize he is able to hear you," Thane casually said, before leaping over his cover and throwing a pair of Collectors into the open with his biotics. The only reply that came over the comm was an aggressive growl from Grunt, and the krogan's incendiary fire lit up the room once more.

"Keep your head in the damned fight and follow orders," Garrus snapped, stern edge returning to his voice. "Shepard needs us at our best. Humanity needs us. You die, there's no happy ending for anyone."

Just then, the wall across the hive-like chamber burst with fire and ash, breaking through with a swarm of Collectors and husks. The creatures pulsed as one, flooding in towards them.

"Fall back on my mark!" Garrus shouted, keying the location on their displays. As the others fell back, Grunt held kept firing, a smattering of blood down his armour. Sprinting across the room, Garrus clipped him with the edge of his gun before catching his cowl, "Now! Go!"

Staring the turian down, Grunt's shields flickered again and he scarce flinched as a bullet clipped his hump. He simmered under his armour, a subtle growl in his throat before he turned with Garrus and ran for better cover.

* * *

The distant rumble of explosions seemed a backdrop to the way the world tilted as the Reaper larvae screeched and fractured under the explosive force of the M920-Cain. Grunt sneered a smile, feeling the salvo clap in his chest as the flare of light blinded their vision. The keening screech of metal filled the air as Shepard clipped the heavy weapon to her back, and suddenly the platform beneath them heaved.

Holding his ground, Grunt smacked his hand into one of the plating, fingers wrenching as the gravity tipped, and his hardsuit bleated warnings. Debris was falling all around them, and he missed what the Commander screamed, as she and Garrus floundered to find footing.

Down the massive chamber, lights flared, shadowed by the clouds of seeker swarms and fluttering Collector wings. The krogan was about to stand once more when the platform swirled into a death spiral. The weightless sensation flipped in his stomach, and he growled to hold on, reaching to catch Garrus' arm without thinking, stopping the turian before he was thrown into the abyss. Shepard was on her knees, clutching to what little hold there was, the world around them blurring into a dizzying spin.

Another explosion rocked them, and the world flipped, distorted by metal, dust and debris, and Grunt cracked on the ground. One of his lungs was pierced, and his breath gurgled before his redundant systems adapted.

"Shepard," he called out, the sound of his voice muted to his own ears. There was ringing, and the din of explosions seemed removed from where he was, blackness threatening at the edges of his vision.

A hand smacked his arm, rolling him over, and Grunt saw the approval in Shepard's eyes through her helmet.

"Come on, kiddo," Shepard braced his arm, hoisting him up. "I'm not keen on leaving your corpse here."

Grunt huffed a single laugh, following her to hoist a beam off Garrus, and the turian croaked a breath, his head rolling in a daze.

"Shepard! Come on, Shepard!" Joker's voice flickered over the comm. "Don't leave me hanging!"  
"We're on our way," Shepard replied, stabbing a medi-gel into the junction on Garrus' hard suit. She took his arm over her shoulder, hoisting him up before steadying him on his feet. Smacking his chest, she pulled the pistol from her hip, the rest of their artillery lost. "Double time, soldiers."

Through the collapsing Collector base they ran, bullets and heat sinks flying, with the insectoid drones hot on their tail. Shepard hung back as she ordered them through the cavity and into the open, where the bright flare of the SR2's engines filled the air with a defiant howl. Punched once, twice on the final ascent, Shepard barely made it into the air lock, stumbling into Grunt from the momentum.

"Get us out of here, Joker!" Shepard ordered with surprising strength. "Let's see the show." They all stumbled as momentum shifted, and clutching her bloody wounds, she snagged Grunt's arm. Garrus stalked after them, hurrying towards the cockpit.

Helmet tossed aside, Shepard smiled brightly at Grunt before their eyes turned towards the windows, where in another moment the last explosions triggered in the base, and the sector was filled with light. Punching the krogan in the arm, she kept her eyes on the prize and purred, "Now that's how we do it."


	4. Chapter 4

"See Grunt," Jack said as she slouched in the corner of the club with the krogan beside her. A wide variety of empty bottles and glasses were scattered on the table before them. At least three crewmembers were unconscious and drooling around them. "I knew you'd be able to hold your liquor."

Grunt huffed slightly, fingers coiled around a glass of ryncol as he blankly watched Kelly bump and grind with Gabby, and Kenneth laughed from the edge of the dance floor. They'd bought out the bar on Illium after returning through the Omega 4 relay, and obligingly got smashed. The dead could wait, for tonight they were revered and honoured.

"You know I bet we could do a lot of damage," Jack said, before downing the rest of her drink. Sucking a breath through her teeth, she said, "Might be fun getting in a fight with you next to me. See how long it is before they take us down?"

"We'd be off planet," Grunt replied, his eyes finally settling on Shepard. She was standing with Garrus and Tali, leaning heavily on the bar and laughing. "But for what purpose?"

"Shit, it'd be fun?" Jack replied, signalling the waitress and motioned for another round. Grabbing a bottle as it was put down, it was near her lips as she glanced to Grunt, "You still pining?"

"Hmm?" Grunt glanced at her and narrowed his eyes, "I'm not cleaning you off the floor."

Jack rolled her eyes and downed her beer, flicking the krogan off. Smacking her lips, she said, "You're pathetic."

Growling in his throat, Grunt leant across the table, "I'd like to hear you say that when you don't have Shepard's crew in the wings to defend you."

"Please," Jack sneered, "Like I need them."

Rumbling to himself, Grunt finished the rest of his drink, and it added to the intense fire in his gut. He made to stand up as he said, "Then enough talk."

Jack's eyes lit with mischief as she nodded, "Yeah, sure. Come on, kiddo – ain't that what she calls you?"

Grunt made a fist and smashed it down on the table, miscalculating the force as the near-turpentine flared in his veins. The table fractured, and the glasses on top bounced and clattered onto the ground. There was the successive shatter of glass as he reached across the table, overriding Jack's laughter as she skidded out of the way, waking the drunken crew nearby. All eyes turned to him, and the thud of music was left in the awkward silence.

Steeling himself as the liquor made his head spin, Grunt pushed the table out of his way and trumped towards the door.

Behind the bar Matriarch Aethyta smirked knowingly and shook her head, before calling out, "Don't worry, kid!" He was already out the door.

Huffing in Illium's night air, Grunt flexed his fingers. A nearby group of salarians scattered with a small sound of fright, and he watched them go with a brief chuckle. Pathetic. That was pathetic.

"Hey," Shepard said as the doors to the bar closed behind her. She had her arms crossed when he spun around.

"Shepard," Grunt offered, glancing over his shoulder as the salarians made it out of earshot.

"Here I thought out of anyone, you'd be able to hold your liquor," Shepard smirked, and the glowing red cracks in her cheek exaggerated the expression. "Or at least be some solid competition for myself."

Grunt huffed again, letting the teasing roll off his hump as they turned through a nearby door. It revealed another open market, the shops closed. He spoke as they wandered to the fenced edge to look over the glowing city, "I thought it better than grinding Jack's face into a fine paste."

Shepard laughed once and shrugged, her arms crossed as she said, "Alright, I'll give you that." She breathed deep as she leant onto the rail, a breeze stirring up from the city below.

"So," Grunt flatly said, crossing his arms and watching her. "The turian."

Inhaling deeply, Shepard turned around and leant back against the ledge. Some of her hair fluttered loose as she said, "He's back at the bar. Or did you mean a different one?"

"What's he got that I don't," Grunt rumbled, stepping closer to her.

Shepard was unfazed, glancing aside as she said, "Here I'd gotten the impression you learned turian anatomy in the tank."

"You know what I mean, Shepard," Grunt replied, bouncing aside to smash his fist into the metal ledge. His hand came away unscathed.

"Well," Shepard inhaled, looking skyward as she gathered her thoughts before tactfully saying, "He does have more scars than you."

"Is that it then?" he growled, looking back to her.

"Scars represent a lot," Shepard replied, coolly watching him. "Trials. Experience. Suffering. They're a road map of a person's life."

Another flicker of fire burnt under his hump, and Grunt paced again to dissipate the tension. He wanted to rip and maim, some exertion of dominance and snarl, to bear his teeth – but he knew better. Did he?

"So what are your plans now?" Shepard interrupted his thoughts, sniffing in and regarded him casually.

The krogan went to the ledge and leant on it, simmering down, "That depends. What battles do you have next?"

Shepard chuckled, a shadow in her eyes, "Preparing for the real one to come."

"The Reapers," Grunt plainly said. She nodded and they both looked over the city.

"I think it'd be good if you went back to Tuchunka. Wrex can use warriors like you. Your clan needs you."

"What," Grunt huffed, "You don't anymore, Shepard?"

"I will," she looked at him straight faced. "So go where I know to find you, and train with a better krogan than you."

Grunt pressed his lips in a line before flashing a line of teeth at her, "If anyone else said that, I'd shoot them."

Clapping his hump, Shepard shook her head, laughing as she said, "Come on. We need another drink."

* * *

The roar of the krogans nearby went up as the varren in the pit finally darted and caught the jugular of its opponent. With a quick jerk, it shook the other fighter and there was a spray of blood as the tough hide ripped in its jaws. Shepard grinned widely, nudging Grunt before she activated her omni-tool, swiping it with a few of the Urdnots nearby to collect her winnings.

"I never get tired of that," Shepard said, turning away as the victor continued to rip sinew and hide to feast on the fallen.

"You've certainly got a knack for picking winners," Garrus said, mandibles flaring as he kept close to her and Grunt. Some of the krogan around the pit followed him with their eyes.

"You'd like to think that," Shepard winked, and they stopped as one of the honour guard approached.

"The clan leader will see you now," the krogan growled, and turned back amidst the collapsed concrete and rusted steel. Shepard followed close on his heels, and Wrex came into sight. He dismissed the others present, baring his teeth in a wide grin.

"Shepard," Wrex said, nodding to Grunt and Garrus in turn. "Not dead yet, it seems."

"Wrex," Shepard answered, smiling as she crossed her arms. "They keep trying, but somehow I keep rising from the ash."

"Hah," Wrex said, motioning for them to follow. He walked up the collapsed structure towards his perch that overlooked the main camp of the clan. "It true what they say about you and the Collectors?"

"Depends what they're saying?" Shepard easily replied.

"That you came back through the Omega 4? Long as I've known, no one's ever returned. Seems fitting that the woman who cheated death would find a loop hole for it too."

"Let's just say the Collectors won't be making house calls anymore."

"Good," Wrex said, waving for Shepard to join him as he sat on the stone. "They took their share of valuable krogan. Females. Children. Don't know what they wanted with them, but that's enough to get on my list." He reached down to retrieve a bottle, breaking it open and offering it to Shepard, "Ship's still intact?"

Taking the bottle, the Commander took a swig and sucked air through her teeth before handing it back and nodding, "Yeah, mostly. Lost some good people."

"The consequence of any worthwhile battle," Wrex replied, taking a slow drink. Glancing from Garrus to Grunt, took another sip. "So what brings you here, Shepard?"  
"Needed to see my favourite warlord," Shepard casually replied, smacking her lips before she motioned nearby. "And bring Grunt home."

Wrex nodded and ruminated with a low growl, looking over the tankbred Urdnot, "Tell me, boy - earn your keep under your Battlemaster's command?"

"Of course," Grunt replied in a bit of a huff. "The enemies we felled cannot be counted. I was there when the Reaper offspring screamed its last, and the Collector's home base collapsed on itself in the galactic core."

Nodding again, Wrex passed the bottle to Shepard, smirking as she took a swig and handed it back, "What do you bring back to your clan? What worth are you to Urdnot?"

"Battle experience," Grunt said without hesitation, and Wrex made an amused sound. "The value of patience. And the value of scars. One to reign the fire and wait for the moment of the kill - and the other, a memory and pride of those you've slain, of those who've died. Of the trials you've survived."

"Well," Wrex said, capping off the liquor and tucking it back out of view. "It's a start. But then again, the thresher was a start." He chuckled and stood alongside Shepard. He nodded to her, "And what about you, Shepard?"

"Prepare," she replied, putting her hands on her hips. "I might have taken out the Collectors, but the Reapers are still coming. And somehow I think this'll have been a cakewalk by comparison."

"Cakewalk..." Garrus said from nearby, putting down a mangled skull he'd found.

"Child's play," Wrex offered, nodding as he crossed his arms. "I don't know what to tell you. Guess we'll see when it happens. If it happens in your lifetime. Afraid I can't chat much more - talks off-world."

"I'll see you round," Shepard said as she took a few steps back.

"Shepard," Wrex nodded and turned to where one of his clansmen waited. Grunt lingered, glancing between the grizzled krogan and his battlemaster.

"Been a pleasure, Grunt," Shepard said, clapping arms with him and slapping his other hump. "Keep in touch, hmm?"

Grunt nodded a few times, shifting his weight, "I'll be expecting to hear from you. Taught me a lot, Shepard."

"You bet, kiddo," Shepard said, crossing her arms and nodding. Garrus was already walking away. Pursing her lips a minute, she contemplated the krogan, but grinned instead and hit him in the cheek. "Make me proud."

* * *

THE END

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading! Grunt was a blast to write - and Wrex too at the end hehe.


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